Question Since buying a new Gaming PC I only connect to servers in China now, even though I live in Australia ?

[chrom]

As the title suggest, I recently bought a new gaming PC and now every time i try to play online i join a game with 1000+ ping server which seems to be located in China.

I live in Australia and I have tried both ethernet cable and wireless. I tried this on Counter Strike 2 and Team Fortress 2.

I will list my specs here but I don't think it would change anything.

CPU: Intel Core i7 12700K (12 Cores, 20 Threads)
GPU: Asus TUF RTX 3070TI 8gb
RAM: 32gb DDR5 4400MHz
Motherboard: Dell Alienware OEM with Liquid Cooler
Hard drive: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB NVME SSD

My previous gaming PC did not have this issue at all and I have not changed anything to do with my internet since buying the new PC. I do not have a VPN installed and my region on Windows is set to Australia. From my understanding you can't change your region on steam without a VPN.

Any advice would be amazing.

EDIT* I managed to download a server browser for MW2 that let me choose an AUS server. This server was not laggy and worked perfectly. It seems quick play assumes I'm in a different region. What do you think? Do I a VPN?

EDIT** Hotspot does not work either so don't think its a modern issue.

EDIT*** Repluged old computer in and works just fine.

Thank you.

 

[Hellfire13]

I am not sure about this, but AFAIK, those Dell motherboards are manufactured in China and shipped for assembly to different locations around the world, and hence the embedded NIC might be connecting to Chinese servers, or something to do with it.
I could be wrong though.

 

[helpstar]

Did you install windows yourself and how? which windows edition and version is it?
try the malwarebytes.com tool to have a look if something odd is going on

BIOS language also in english?

Which dell gaming model is it?

 

[MJS WARLORD]

you mentioned steam so i just looked at my account , on profile/edit profile their is a location change tab

 

[ilukey77]

also some games shoe horn us aussies into japanese or oceanic servers by default ..

for instance Black desert online on the xbox forced me into the N/A servers yet my Ps5 black desert game by default forced my into euro servers ..

 

[chrom]

I am not sure about this, but AFAIK, those Dell motherboards are manufactured in China and shipped for assembly to different locations around the world, and hence the embedded NIC might be connecting to Chinese servers, or something to do with it.
I could be wrong though.

Thanks for responding.

How would I find out or fix it?

 

[chrom]

Did you install windows yourself and how? which windows edition and version is it?
try the malwarebytes.com tool to have a look if something odd is going on

BIOS language also in english?

Which dell gaming model is it?

Thanks for responding.

The seller installed windows for me. It's windows 10 and i think most recent. I'll check when home.

Bios is in english.

Unsure which model. How do I check?

 

[USAFRet]

I am not sure about this, but AFAIK, those Dell motherboards are manufactured in China and shipped for assembly to different locations around the world, and hence the embedded NIC might be connecting to Chinese servers, or something to do with it.
I could be wrong though.

Most, almost all, motherboards and NICs come off assembly lines in China. Dell, HP, ASUS. MSI, whatever.
That is not the issue.

 

[chrom]

you mentioned steam so i just looked at my account , on profile/edit profile their is a location change tab

Thanks for responding.

Steam is set to Australia already.

Like i said, my previous computer worked fine. I haven't changed any steam settings since buying the new pre-built one.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for responding.

The seller installed windows for me. It's windows 10 and i think most recent. I'll check when home.

Bios is in english.

Unsure which model. How do I check?

You personally need to do a full wipe and reinstall.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[chrom]

also some games shoe horn us aussies into japanese or oceanic servers by default ..

for instance Black desert online on the xbox forced me into the N/A servers yet my Ps5 black desert game by default forced my into euro servers ..

Thanks for responding.

I'm use to it happening occasionally but this is happening everytime since the new computer.

Even server browser is only showing Chinese servers. i can't browse for Australian servers

 

[chrom]

You personally need to do a full wipe and reinstall.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

what about upgrading to windows 11? would that do the same?

 

[USAFRet]

what about upgrading to windows 11? would that do the same?

Only with a full wipe and reinstall.

Baby steps...do this in Win 10 first.
Then we can consider Win 11.

Did the seller give you documentation on the Windows license key?

 

[chrom]

Only with a full wipe and reinstall.

Baby steps...do this in Win 10 first.
Then we can consider Win 11.

Did the seller give you documentation on the Windows license key?

i'll do full wipe tonight . Wish i tested everything first before reinstalling everything ugh.

Unfortunately no documentation . he said he reformatted it himself however.

 

[USAFRet]

i'll do full wipe tonight . Wish i tested everything first before reinstalling everything ugh.

Unfortunately no documentation . he said he reformatted it himself however.

For ANY used system...anything you personally do not break the manufacturers seal on...you personally need to do a full wipe and reinstall, as your very first operation.

Even if the seller states "I just did it 5 minutes ago!"

 

[helpstar]

it is a dell pre built machine, isn't it? there should be a service tag on the case. with this and the dell homepage you can find out the history of that PC.

 

[chrom]

For ANY used system...anything you personally do not break the manufacturers seal on...you personally need to do a full wipe and reinstall, as your very first operation.

Even if the seller states "I just did it 5 minutes ago!"

Just reformatted the computer but this did not fix the problem.

What do you suggest now?

EDIT** I managed to download a server browser for MW2 that let me choose an AUS server. This server was not laggy and worked perfectly. It seems quick play assumes I'm in a different region. What do you think? Do i need a VPN?